Comfort
by AHeartForStories
Summary: HICCUP WHUMP! Hiccup falls ill with a bad case of Eel Pox and Toothless just wants to find something to comfort the boy. Post-DoB, pre-RttE.


_Wrote this for an ask on Tumblr! Enjoy!_

_Constructive criticism is appreciated! Please do tell me how my usage of past tense and present tense are. I tend to get those mixed up._

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**Comfort**

Toothless wasn't sure what he was looking for in the Haddock Household. He ransacked the living room, pretty much stuck his nose in every possible nook and cranny and pot in the kitchen and now found himself sniffing through Hiccup's stuff in their bedroom. After all that searching, he still hadn't a clue as to what he was actually hoping to find.

He wanted something comforting for Hiccup, that was certain. Something his Rider could be soothed by during these trying times.

A pillow? No, he had one already.

Blankets? And risk having him overheat? Never!

His little notebook and charcoal pencils? How on Midgard was the boy supposed to write or draw in his condition?

Just then, as a chair overturned by a careless push of his shoulder and ended up on the wooden floor on its back, Toothless' gaze caught the sight of just the thing he was looking for and it was silently gazing back at him with tiny black eyes.

The little dragon toy. The same one Hiccup had gotten back last year and of which the presence often gave him great comfort after a nightmare or a hard day.

It had been made by his mother when he was just a babe and the boy had once mentioned that it made him feel like she was still with him, although he couldn't remember her no matter how he tried.

So it was the toy that Toothless took. Careful to take it with just his gums and trying in vain not to get it covered in slobber, he returned to the Great Hall, where his Viking rested.

The second he entered, an utmost foul stench hit his nose. He wondered if it was as pungent for the humans as it was for him.

It was the stink of disease and death as Berk had been hit by another Eel Pox epidemic. It came annually and it was easier to get the ingredients for a cure now that the Hooligans had dragons, but it was particularly bad this year.

Hiccup was one of those that had fallen ill.

Stoick claimed that his son rarely caught anything, but then someone else responded that this only meant that, should Hiccup get sick, he would get really sick. And that was what worried Toothless so.

He navigated through the people stumbling about, frantically caring for their sick, evaded the cots on the stone floor of the hall and quite quickly found the boy he was hoping to find.

The Night Fury was disappointed to see, after arriving at his Rider's side, that he was still asleep.

He had yet to wake up today.

Which really did nothing to ease the dragon's concerns.

Hiccup was lying on a cot, curled up on his side with the covers drawn up to his cheeks. He looked even paler than usual and thinner too. He'd lost weight, of which he didn't have much to lose in the first place. A fever kept him hostage.

His father sat by his side on a stool, off in slumberland himself as he had been up on his feet and caring for his village with little sleep for days. The man would've collapsed if he didn't get some rest.

Sharpshot was present too. Curled up around Hiccup's head and breathing out little puffs of smoke. It was as if he were protecting the boy, sleeping and watching over him to fend off something he could not physically fight.

Though now drenched in saliva, Toothless still put the dragon toy down in front of him, gingerly pushing it into his arms with his snout. It displaced the blanket he slept under, but he could fix that soon.

Hiccup seemed to grab for it in his sleep, unconsciously, the first sign of life they got all day besides his breathing.

He seemed to be curling up in an even tighter ball and Toothless managed to fix the covers after he moved. He liked being cocooned, the Night Fury noticed.

Toothless settled on the floor by his side and gave his temple just the tiniest lick, to which the Viking didn't respond.

A worried croon left him and Toothless placed his head down.

He hoped Hiccup would get better soon. It was terrible to watch him grow sicker and sicker by the hour, but he preferred that greatly over the completely still figure he now was.

He wanted it to be over soon. He wanted his boy back.


End file.
